Jared’s body finally gave out. He dropped to one knee in midair, his face white as paper, his breath so faint it had nearly run out. The draconic energy around him vanished completely. Only a thin layer of golden light still lingered around his body, weak enough to go out at any moment. But he still kept his head lifted, looking at Josephine.
The tenderness in his eyes, the love in them, did not fade in the slightest. Even with death closing in—even with hellfire tearing through him from the inside—his gaze never left her.
“J-Josephine…” He forced the words out. Bloody foam slipped from the corner of his mouth, and every syllable pulled at the wound hard enough to make the strain plain on his face. “I lost you. I failed your Father… every moment, I was thinking about you. I wanted to find you, but…”
Josephine’s body started shaking so hard she could not hold it back anymore. Tears slid down her cheeks and fell onto the Worldfire Blade, mixing with the blood on it before the flames instantly burned them into nothing.
She looked at the man in front of her—covered in blood, hanging by a thread, and still looking at her with that same tenderness, that same love. Something inside her chest twisted so hard it nearly tore her apart, until even drawing breath turned difficult.
Why? Why did my chest hurt this much?! Why are my tears falling on their own?
She lifted her hand and tried to thrust the sword again, tried to end all of this. But her arm would not move. It was as if it weighed a thousand pounds. She could not drive the blade down no matter how hard she tried.
Down below, Vivian and the others had already broken into tears, sobbing so hard they could barely make a sound. Watching Jared in that state, ripped open and fading in front of them, they could only stand there with nothing they could do.
“Jared!” Vivian screamed his name, her voice already scraped raw. She lurched forward, trying to rush up and pull Jared back from the edge, but Jared lifted a hand and stopped her. With obvious effort, Jared turned his head and looked at Vivian. He gave the faintest shake, his gaze weak but steady. It said everything clearly enough—he didn’t want her to come over; this was between him and Josephine, and he accepted it.
Vivian bit down on her lip so hard she broke the skin. Blood welled there, but she still didn’t move again. She could only stand below with tears running down her face, staring at what was happening in the air until the ache in her chest left her fighting for breath.
She knew this was Jared’s choice. Even if he died under Josephine’s sword, he would never strike back. He would never let himself hurt her in the slightest. That refusal was carved into his bones. No one could change it.
Up in the sky, Skylar watched it all unfold. The smile at his mouth deepened bit by bit, growing thicker with satisfaction, heavier with pride, crueler by the second. His eyes were full of the thrill of payback. This was exactly what he wanted. He wanted to watch Jared get cut down again and again by the woman he loved. He wanted to watch Jared reduced to a wreck, low as dirt. He wanted to watch him struggle inside pain and despair. He wanted to watch him reach a state worse than death. This felt ten thousand times better than taking the world or ruling over every realm. He meant to destroy everything Jared had, including his love, his dignity, and his life!
“Senior Josephine, continue.” He spoke lightly, his voice mild, but the command in it left no room to refuse—there was no warmth in his tone at all. “A man like that doesn’t deserve your mercy. He’s just trying to win your pity. Kill him, and end this for good.”
Josephine’s body gave a small shiver, and the tears spilled even harder. She turned her head and looked at Skylar. That same gentle smile was still on Skylar’s face. But for some reason, when Josephine looked at him now, that face had changed. It looked unfamiliar. Darker. And suddenly, it looked like something she should have feared.
She looked at Jared again. Jared was still kneeling in midair, covered in blood. His breathing had gone weak, but he still looked at her with those same eyes, full of tenderness and love. There wasn’t a trace of blame in them. Only the ache he carried for her. Those eyes cut into her. Those eyes shook her.
The hand holding her sword slowly lowered. The Worldfire Blade lost its power, the blade dipped down, and the flames on it gradually died away. Not a trace of killing intent remained.
“I…” Her lips parted, but nothing came. She didn’t know what she was supposed to say. Josephine’s hand slowly fell to her side. The flames on the Worldfire Blade went out completely, and the sword turned still again. She looked at the man in front of her, soaked in blood, barely hanging on, and still watching her with a gentle gaze. The sharp pull in her chest nearly made her lose her footing.
She didn’t want to stab him again. She didn’t know who he was. She didn’t know what had happened between them. But somewhere deep inside, a voice kept telling her one thing—she couldn’t hurt him anymore. Josephine drew in a deep breath, and tears slipped down without a sound.
She looked at Jared one last time. Confusion was there. So was that same ache and the weight of what she’d done, along with something more tangled than she could make sense of herself.
Then she turned around. Her purple robes fluttered as she gave Jared her back—leaving the man she had stabbed until he was covered in wounds—and stepped through the air toward the distance.
“Josephine!” Jared’s voice tore out from behind her, rough and breaking under the weight of it. “Where are you going? Don’t go!”
Josephine’s step caught for a moment, and her body gave a slight tremor. But in the end, she didn’t turn around. She had no way to face him. She had no way to answer that love, so fierce it closed around her throat. Her mind had gone blank. The only thing left was to run.
“Josephine!” Jared struggled to get up. He tried to go after her, but his body was too badly wrecked to obey. The instant he moved, the wound in his chest split back open. Blood burst out, and he crashed down into the sky again. He could only spend the last of his strength staring at that purple figure as she drifted farther and farther away. Nothing in his eyes wanted to let her go.
“Don’t go… please, don’t go…” His voice kept fading. The light in his eyes dimmed with it, as if Josephine’s leaving had ripped half the soul out of him.
Up in the sky, Skylar’s face darkened in an instant. He stared at Josephine’s retreating back without blinking. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and the look in his eyes turned savage. He had never expected Josephine to stop at the last second. He had never expected her to go against his order.
“Senior Josephine!” Skylar shouted after her, his voice carrying an order that left no room to defy it. “Stop right there! I told you to kill him. Did you hear me or not?!”
Josephine didn’t stop. Her figure kept drifting farther away. She never turned her head even once, like she hadn’t heard Skylar calling after her at all. Or maybe she had heard him and simply had no intention of answering.
Skylar’s face darkened all the way. His hands clenched into fists so hard his knuckles went white. Demonic aura boiled around him in a wild surge, rolling off him with raw violence. “Good. Very good…” The words came out through grinding teeth, one word at a time. Murder crowded his eyes as he said, “If you won’t kill him, then I’ll do it myself!”
Before the last word had even finished ringing out, Skylar vanished from where he stood. In the next instant, he was already several yards in front of Jared. Demonic aura surged around him like monstrous waves climbing toward the sky.
He flipped his right hand, and a long blade black as ink appeared in his grip, wrapped in savage demonic aura. Twisted ghost faces showed faintly along the blade, and from them came thin, shrill wails.
